Comings and Goings

The LTER Network Office experienced many changes during the past year, among them the addition of new staff:

1. James Moss (NIS Programmer): James was raised in Madison, WI, and completed his undergraduate studies in Computer Science and Economics at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. He has lived in Albuquerque for about two years, having lived in Pittsburgh prior to that.  A member of the NIS group, James is actively engaged in developing software for the PASTA framework. Away from work, he enjoys spending time outdoors.

2. Joe Tighe (Account/Fiscal Services Tech): Born in Texas and relocated to New Mexico when nine years old, Joseph attended Saint Pius X High School in Albuquerque then moved on to obtain a Bachelors in Business Administration from Texas A&M University in 2006. His responsibilities at the Network Office include reconciling all expenditures related to the LNO and projecting and balancing budgets for working groups and supplements to the LNO. In his free time Joseph likes to go camping and travelling, but his favorite thing to do is play golf.  He is a member at the UNM North Golf Club, and when not at the LNO can most likely be found there. 

3. Yang Xia (Information Manager): Before Joining LTER Network Office as a new Information Manager in February 2010, Yang worked as a research scientist for five year at the Sevilleta LTER, and 10 years before that at the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Yang's current interests include maintaining database consistency and integrity, content management, data analysis, report documentation, and research project coordination. 

4. Leanne Yanabu (Web Designer): Leanne was born in Los Angeles and raised in Hilo, Hawaii. She graduated from Haverford College and received her Masters of Fine Arts in Photography from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. In between earning her degrees, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali, West Africa. Upon relocating to New Mexico, Leanne joined the University of New Mexico as a web designer for several departments, including the Center for Radioactive Waste Management, the Tamarind Institute, and the Latin American Institute. She joined LNO in early 2010 and currently helps manage and maintain the website with open source content management software. You can view Leanne’s website at www.olopua.com.

5. Rina Ouellette (Administrative Assistant): Born on Long Island, New York, Rina earned her BS at the University of Texas at Austin in Radio-TV-Film, and earned her MA in Archetypal Art Therapy / Art Education at the University of New Mexico. Rina has lived in Japan and taught English and French at Berlitz School of Languages in Nagoya, Japan. Before returning to Albuquerque, Rina worked at Holt, Rinehart and Winston as a Book Designer. In her spare time, Rina enjoys making beaded jewelry using seed beads, walking, reading books by her favorite author Doris Lessing, and studying Accounting.

Other comings and goings:

In January 2010, CAP welcomed Phil Tarrant as the new information manager. Phil gained extensive experience in software project management at IBM before becoming a biologist / remote sensing specialist. He has worked off and on with CAP as a bird technician and student.

Corinna Gries replaced Barbara Benson as Information Manager at NTL right after the LTER ASM in 2009.

Also in 2009, John Chamblee replaced Barrie Collins at CWT; Adam Skibbe replaced Jin Gao at KNZ; Sue Welch replaced MCM's Chris Gardner. Earlier, in March 2008, Gastil-Buhl had replaced Sabine at MCR.